Highland Spring bosses have confirmed only a handful of workers are now at risk of redundancy at its main Perthshire bottling plant.
The Courier revealed this week the company is looking to axe more than 30 staff in an effort to offset the financial damage caused by Covid-19 restrictions.
The bottled water giant said it is getting ready to begin redundancy talks at its plant in Blackford, Perthshire, and a smaller facility in Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire.
On Thursday, bosses confirmed the majority of planned redundancies will be at Lennoxtown, which employs 83 staff.
A spokeswoman for the firm said: “We are proposing a headcount reduction of 27 roles at our Fells site in Lennoxtown, Glasgow, and five roles at our Ochils site in Blackford, Perthshire.”
All employees have been told to expect an “across-the-board staff salary reduction” until at least the middle of 2021.
The decreased threat to local jobs came as a relief to local politicians.
Alexander Stewart, Tory MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife, said: “While any job losses are unwelcome, it does appear that the Blackford site will not be bearing the brunt of the job losses, which will be of some relief to the workforce.”
He said: “We must continue to see support given to businesses to help them continue to employ as many people as possible as we try to kick-start our economic recovery.”
Mr Stewart said he will continue to lobby the Scottish Government “to take urgent action in order to support as many jobs as possible, especially at sites such as Highland Spring which are so vital to the local economy.”
Highland Spring set up shop in Blackford more than four decades ago. It is now one of the region’s biggest employers with a workforce of 288 at its Ochils plant.
More than 232 million litres of water are bottled at the factory each year.
The company has a entire staff of just over 400 at four sites in Scotland, and one in Wales.
